In 1827 Sarah Hale astonished America by editing the first magazine for women. She stirred their imagination with her daring articles on women's rights, flattered them by her edicts on fashions and manners. At a time when few "females" dared to write for publication, her first novel was a sensational success. She was a crusader, a reformer and a champion of women's rights long before the suffragist movement caught fire.

As a young girl Sarah created controversy in her New Hampshire village by her advanced methods in teaching children. At twenty-three she married lawyer David Hale. When he died, leaving her with five children to support, she tried to sell bonnets but failed, and turned to writing. Her NORTHWOOD was the first novel to raise the issue of slavery. It became a best seller and attracted the interest of a Boston publisher who hired Sarah to edit THE LADIES' MAGAZINE.

This was a daring project, unprecedented in American publishing. Since Sarah had no contributing authors, she wrote most of the first issue herself - stories, aticles and poems. Men were disturbed by this "female" novelty, but women were delighted. Gradually as circulation grew, Sarah become bolder in her editorials, pleading for higher education for girls, for women doctors and teachers. She formed the first women's organization in America—the Seamen's Aid Society—and proved on many occasions that women could solve problems as effectively as men.

Louis Godey tried vainly to imitate Sarah's policies in his LADY'S BOOK. Then he begged her to work for him, but she refused to leave LADIES' MAGAZINE, so he bought it. As his editor she began her most dramatic crusades, working almost till her death at the age of ninety.

Sarah Hale was beautiful, compassionate, courageous. She never misused her incredible power in molding public opinion, and she forsook a lost cause. The author brings a dynamic and romantic figure to vivid life.

From the dust jacket